Top al-Qaeda figure killed in US air strike, say reports

A TOP Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula militant, who appeared in a number of prominent videos, has reportedly been killed in a US air strike.

SITE intelligence, which monitors militant activity, reported that a US air strike in Yemen had successfully killed Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi along with his eldest son and other fighters.

A US official confirmed that Ansi had died, but would not state whether his death was the result of a drone strike, CNN reported.

The SITE intelligence report claimed that Ansi was killed in al-Mukalla, Yemen, last month.

Ansi, who was born in Yemen, had appeared in a number of prominent videos for the terror organisation, including one in which he claimed the group was behind the Aqap attack on the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Twelve cartoonists, editors and staffers were killed after two armed men burst into their Paris offices and opened fire on 7 January.